Pediatricians Sign on to Swim Lessons

A Florida drowning-prevention initiative is expanding with the backing of powerful new allies.

Pediatricians statewide soon will become part of an effort to
promote water safety — including swim education and
instruction for young children — as part of the Florida
Drowning Prevention Task Force.

“To have the doctors on board and distributing this
information to parents, that’s huge,” said Kim Burgess,
drowning prevention coordinator at the Broward County Health
Department in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who is spearheading the
initiative.

“As a parent myself, the only person you tend to listen to
100 percent of the time is your pediatrician,” she added.
“When they say ‘jump,’ you say ‘how
high?’ So in the aquatics world, this is like the second
coming.”

The alliance of safety advocates, aquatics professionals, health
officials and now doctors comes on the heels of a major policy
shift by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Last summer, the group
reversed its long-held recommendation that children under age 4
should not be given swim lessons.

Expected to begin as early as April, the program is based on a
guidebook called Water Smart Babies, which was developed by the
task force. It contains easy-to-understand material on the danger
of drowning, safety devices and the importance of CPR and first aid
classes.

But perhaps its most important element is the “Prescription
for Water Safety.” This half-page cutout within the booklet
is filled out by a pediatrician during a baby’s nine-month
visit. It contains the child’s name and age, and directs
parents to a local aquatics facility for water safety
education; locations are listed on subsequent pages of the
booklet.

Indeed, Florida may be ground zero for water safety. The
state’s drowning rate for children ages 1 to 4 is more than
double the national average, according to the state health
department.

Dr. William Bruno has been instrumental in galvanizing support for
the program among the state’s medical community. In fact, the
South Florida-based pediatrician traveled to Tallahassee in early
February to win the backing of the Florida Pediatric Society, the
state chapter of the AAP.

The ultimate goal, he said, is the program’s adoption by the
national organization.

“The idea is that we shouldn’t be the only ones doing
it — it should be all over,” said Bruno, the pediatric
medical director of Children’s Medical Services at Memorial
Healthcare System in Hollywood, Fla.

“And if we can get the AAP to do it, we’ll be all
over,” he continued. “As pediatricians, all of us were
frustrated by the past recommendation of the AAP. But it’s
not as if we’re reinventing the wheel, and it isn’t
something I’m asking pediatricians or parents to do
that’s outrageous. The bottom line is that too many kids are
drowning, and we need to be their advocates.”

Aided by Bruno and others, Burgess already has stakeholders in 27
counties — nearly half the state — on board.
She’s optimistic the remaining 40 or so will soon follow
suit.

But the booklets, and their distribution as part of a
doctor’s practice, are just the beginning, she said. Broader
support can assist in applying for state grant funding of
everything from pool alarm distribution to extensive water-safety
research, she added.